When Pacifica resident Joe Bucko walked into a large shrub encroaching over three quarters of the sidewalk on Bill Drake Way, he could hardly pass through, "let alone use a wheelchair," he said. "It was an unsafe situation."

So he called the city of Pacifica public works department and filed a complaint.

"They said they would send someone out but was not sure of ownership," said Bucko. "Three weeks later, nothing had happened."

So he emailed Pacifica City Council members and a week later he received an email from the city of Pacifica's planning department who wrote, "the department responsible for your complaint is code enforcement, which is part of the Planning Department."

"I then needed to file a written violation complaint -- a code enforcement complaint and referral form -- to have this issue addressed," said Bucko. "The entire process took a phone call, e-mail and mailed written complaint over a one month period to have the issue addressed. A lot of work for a simple fix."

The sidewalk is now cleared by the property owner, but Bucko says, "It would have been easier for me to do the job. It would have taken 15 minutes as opposed to a month and be done with it."

Pacifica City Manager Lorie Tinfow says the delayed response is due to a very lean organization in terms of staffing.

"The person who handled ADA issues for the city left last summer and our shallow bench means that no one else was familiar with the specifics enough to respond without research which took time to conduct, she said.

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Still, the city of Pacifica makes progress despite limited funding by making temporary improvements, where possible, and by searching for grants to help fund ADA projects, she said.

For example, the police station, Waste Water Treatment Plant, Community Center and the Pacifica State Beach are some of the newer City building and facilities.

"These facilities are ADA compliant and meet accessibility standards," said city engineer Van Ocampo, director of public works. "However, the City of Pacifica continues to put its best effort towards meeting its goals and policy to comply with ADA requirements for all City facilities, as more fully detailed in the City's ADA Manual."

In 1995 the city created the City of Pacifica Americans with Disability Act Policy and Procedures Manual known as the "ADA manual."

"The ADA manual includes a self evaluation that assesses the accessibility of the city's facilities and a transition plan that sets forth the city's strategy and schedule for completing structural changes for access improvements, where feasible, to the city's existing facilities," said Ocampo. "The self evaluation contains a list of city facilities and details access barriers, if any, at those facilities."

The ADA manual is available for review at the office of the city clerk.

When it comes to Pacifica following ADA requirements around town, Bucko would like to see "the city work with the police, who can keep an eye open while doing their patrols," he said. "If a violation is observed while on patrol, relay the information to the proper department."

Jennie Pitsch of San Bruno would also "like to see some things on someone's fix-it list," she said.

"Pacifica is a great place to enjoy but once in a while I see a little something that has been overlooked. The public Pier restrooms need help. The stall walls need to be made solid so that grab bars can be installed. Safety first is so important these days."